Supreme Court Ruling: State’s Consent Must for Centre to Extend CBI Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court (SC) has passed its ruling on November 19, 2020 over the issue of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Jurisdiction. The Supreme Court has pronounced that the state government’s consent is mandatory for the CBI probe in the State’s jurisdiction in order to comply with the principle of federalism.

Highlights

The apex court further adds that the central government is not allowed to extend the  jurisdiction of CBI in the state without its consent. This ruling of the SC has came after eight non-BJP states namely, Kerala, Jharkhand, Maharashtra,  Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Punjab,  withdrew the general consent for CBI to investigate the cases in the state’s jurisdiction.

Background

This ruling of SC has came after an appeal was filed by an accused involved in the corruption charges. The accused had challenged the validity of the investigation by CBI against them. They filed a plea stating that the prior consent was not taken by the state government to investigate the case.

Supreme Court’s Ruling

The case was heard by a bench comprising of Justices B R Gavai and A M Khanwilkar. The bench referred to the Section 5 and 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act and stated that even though these sections permits the central government to extend the powers and jurisdiction of DSPE members  to a state, it is not permitted if the states does not give its consent within the state’s area under Section 6 of DSPE Act. The court also highlighted that these provisions comply with the federal character of the constitution and is one of the  basic structures of federalism.